Placement; Studio Assistant- Thornback & Peel

That was an experience; the accommodation situation was a bit of a nightmare but the placement was really good. Everyone was so nice and friendly, and made me feel welcome. It's one studio where everything happens- sometimes it's amazing what you can fit into one room. The first day I was making up boxes for cards that were required for an upcoming trade show and orders, which was quite a lot- luckily I had some help from another intern. After making up well over 100 lids and bases (sometimes twice in one day) I can tell you that by the end of the week I'm confident in saying I'm a pro. I was also folding and wrapping the tea towels, napkins etc and packaging them up for orders ready to be sent out.
It wasn't just all packing though; I was heat pressing and carrying out quality control checks on all the linen and prints and even did a bit of screen printing too. I also got to see how a small company like this is run and get a real feel for it.

Craft Fair- 15th Oct 2011

Another Craft Fair at Frodsham today; it went quite well- much better then the first one did. I sold a few of my gifts & designs and made a profit; which is always good :)
People seem to be quite interested in my designs and have given me quite a lot of possitive feedback.

Heading down to London tomorrow for week placement- so up early again!

Placement- Thornback & Peel

Thornback and Peel are a small company based in London that hand prints their designs onto homeware items such as napkins, tea towel and aprons etc. I have a weeks placement with them, their work is rather illustrated but it will be great experience for printing and seeing how a small design business is run.
www.thornbackandpeel.co.uk

I think this is defo my favourite design

Hankies

I'm lovin this deck chair

Freelance work

Since July I've been doing a bit of freelance work and selling my designs at craft fairs. The first one was a bit hetic- all the preparation (designing & printing etc) and then making sure I had everything sorted the night before. The day itself wasn't great weather wise and I had a few problems but it got me started.
I then had a few cancellations for the next ones due to the weather (rain- of course). The next few however were quite good and it was a great feeling when someone actually bought some of my designs :) 
I've got another one planned later this month and a Christmas fair booked for Dec- that should be good.

100% Design- London

Went down to London today for 100% Design Show- wow! A really good show again; it's only the second one I've been to but I defentally think it's a great trade show for designers (and students). There's just so much there and even if it's not your area of design, it's still so inspiring. Some of the lighting looked amazing; more like artwork than a simple ceiling light. I bumped into Sarah-Jayne-Guest who had a stand there; she's a Surface Designer I've been in touch with; who does her own range of printed interiors. I thought her work looked good on her website; but actually seeing it first hand- it's even better, the designs are bold, bright and really clear- would sertainally bring any dull room to life. Sarah herself is really lovely and was happy to talk about her designs and answer questions; giving me some advice about placements etc.
I also met up with Katja Behre, who is the designer of Elli Popp Wallpapers; she's lovely. I'm a big fan of her work and love her wallpaper and fabric designs.

www.100percentdesign.co.uk

Elli Popp wallpapers

www.sjguest.com
www.ellipopp.com

Elli Popp tea set

Lighting @ 100% Design

Lets get started

I'm a Surface Design student at Huddersfield University; currently on my placement year. This said I thought it would be the perfect time to start my design blog, which I've been meaning to do- now I can keep an online diary about my placements as well as my uni design work :)